How Important Will Gen V's Plot Be To The Boys Season 4?
Spinoffs are a tough feat to pull off, and they're even harder when the main show is still going on. For the first five episodes or so, "Gen V" took the smart approach of basing its main storyline around a fairly low-level, self-contained conspiracy. The characters weren't interacting with anyone like Butcher or Homelander; they were simply trying to figure out what sort of crazy stuff was going on at their school, located in their own little corner of this crazy world.
But the latest episode, "Jumanji," flips that around a bit. It reveals that Dean Indira Shetty (Shelley Conn) is working on a contagious virus that can de-power any Supe, and also maybe kill them in the process. Although her methods to achieve this goal haven't affected anyone on "The Boys" just yet, it's easy to see how the results from Shetty's virus can bleed into the flagship show. If Vought has such a miraculous virus, they'll obviously want to use it, and that'll make it a whole lot easier for Butcher and the boys to finish their long-term goal of killing off supes in general.
As we head into the final two episodes of the spin-off's first season, "Gen V" is in an interesting but awkward place: if the virus gets released, it could have massive ramifications on "The Boys," but should they be structuring the franchise so that fans have to watch the spin-off to properly understand the main show?
A familiar problem
When people talk about franchise fatigue these days, they're usually talking about superhero cinema or "Star Wars." Both of them are filled with movies and TV shows, most of which intersect with each other to at least some degree. This was part of their appeal in the beginning, but it's also what makes each franchise feel increasingly like homework as the years go by. If you ask too much of the viewers, eventually they'll start tuning out entirely.
An early example of this, one that felt far more driven by creative ambitions than sheer financial greed, was "The Matrix" franchise. Before "The Matrix: Reloaded" was released in theaters, hardcore fans also watched the canon anthology film "The Animatrix." Most fans agree that it was pretty good; however, most casual viewers at the time did not watch it before starting "Reloaded," and new fans especially aren't watching it that often 20 years later. The result is a sequel film that feels awkward and disorientating; there are a bunch of minor characters thrown into "Reloaded" who technically have rich backstories, but most of the audience has never seen them.
Like "The Animatrix," "Gen V" is a show that seems widely regarded as pretty good so far, but it might still do more harm than good if the show leads to massive plot devices just popping up in the world of "The Boys." The virus aside, it'll be weird to have "Gen V" characters like Jordan or Marie suddenly become important in the main show. It'll make for a fun treat for hardcore fans, but it asks a lot from casual viewers. And for future viewers thinking about getting into the show, it'll be asking even more.
And what about the other way around?
Disregarding how strange it might feel for the spinoff's elements to start bleeding into "The Boys," there's also the complication of "The Boys" messing around with "Gen V." The spin-off has been confirmed for a second season, which raises the question of what this implies for season 4 of "The Boys."
For instance, it's long been speculated that Homelander might soon snap completely and try to take over the world. It's easy to picture a version of season 4 that ends on a massive cliffhanger, with the world in chaos and Homelander at the height of his power; under normal circumstances, this would be a great set-up for a fifth (and hopefully final) season where Homelander's defeated once and for all. But if there's a second season of "Gen V" scheduled between "The Boys" seasons 4 and 5, how would that work? If there are any major status quo changes in the world of "The Boys," "Gen V" will be stuck dealing with them too.
Of course, showrunners Eric Kripke (of "The Boys") and Michele Fazekas (of "Gen V") have undoubtedly discussed all this already and told Entertainment Weekly that they have a plan as to how to handle all this gracefully. Still, it's hard not to worry if the franchise has bitten off more than it could chew, or if it'll make the already-growing accusations of dragging the Homelander storyline out even worse as a result. "I think these shows will continue to talk to each other in fun ways," Amazon executive Vernon Sanders recently told EW, but whether the fun will be worth the cost is still up in the air.